Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos dies in plane crash

The presidential race in Brazil has been thrown into chaos after candidate Eduardo Campos died in a plane crash on Wednesday.

The Cessna Citation business jet crashed in a residential area of port city Santos, killing six other people who were also on board with Campos, The New York Times reports.

The cause of the crash isn't known yet, but weather in the area was rainy ahead of the plane going down.

A witness, Rebeca Luongo, to the crash said the site "was like something out of a war; walls on fire, parts of bodies, houses destroyed, soldiers, police."

Campos death throws the presidential race into question and some believe could actually dampen chances President Dilma Rousseff survives for another term in office, according to Reuters.

The 49-year-old Campos was third in the polls with only 10 percent of the vote, but his running mate, Marina Silva, is known widely known and should she take his place could see a bump due to sympathy and her religious views, which align her with the growing evangelical Christian vote.

Rousseff currently sits atop the race with about 36 percent of voter support, putting her just ahead of Senator Aecio Neves' 20 percent. The pair will likely have a runoff election in late October.